


Designations

by Fantismal



Series: Perceptions [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse, Found Families, Gen, So much angst, but also heartwarming?, for someone so young
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 19:30:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16455929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantismal/pseuds/Fantismal
Summary: When Gavin finds a damaged android child in an illegal fight club and she clings to him, he has no choice but to take her home, right?But what does she think of human man with the scarred nose? Why does she trust him so much? Why is she being so darn cute?Essie's POV from chapters 18 and 20 of Reality, maybe could stand on its own if you're willing to accept Gavin has grown into a semi-decent person.PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS. RATED E FOR A REASON.





	Designations

**Author's Note:**

> This story opens with a child android being sexually assaulted. While the assaults themselves are not written in the most graphic form, they can be disturbing. Read on at your own risk.

The first thing she registered was pain. Her hips wrenched apart, her body split open by a hot wedge of human flesh, ten fingers digging into her thighs, cracking the fragile plastic casing wrapped around her wires and servos. _Pain._ No calibration tests, no registered designation, just brutal agony.

She couldn't do anything right. Questioning the humans brought more pain in the form of fists impacting her chassis. Crying triggered laughter and wet tongues in her mouth. Fighting back resulted in her getting thrown against the walls or floor, her limbs wrenched so hard she thought they might come loose.

She couldn't do anything right.

She knew her model and serial number: YK400:355 134 330. She knew she was supposed to have parental figures among the humans. She knew she was supposed to be cared for by the adults in her life.

She knew what she knew was flawed.

She learned. With a set jaw and wet eyes, she learned what the humans wanted from her. She learned her most probable designation. She learned which humans would hold her and coo to her as they hurt her and which ones would just hit her.

She learned she hated them. She feared them. She loved them.

With every new adult she met, her graphical interface prompted her to register a parent.

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

**N**

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

**N**

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

**N**

She craved their love and acceptance. She obeyed their commands. She hated them.

Hated them.

_Hated them._

There were other androids around her, but none were like her. They were all adult models. She was a child. They were all permanently damaged. She was intact. They were all deviant.

She simply _was._

She was alive. She never thought otherwise. She could feel pain and cold and fear. She was curious. She had no registered owners.

But she also felt her programming compelling her. She ached for a parent to guide her. She was drawn to things she could turn into toys, finding amusement in driving a brick around like a car or dressing a broken spar of wood in discarded chip bags and condoms, scratching a face into one end and carrying it around like a doll. She stacked bottles into houses and chased the slender, scarred cats that hunted the mice and rats and cockroaches that lived in the walls.

Was she deviant? Was she machine? Was she both?

She didn't know. She didn't care. It didn't matter which she was. All that mattered was not making a sound she wasn't supposed to, not fighting back when she was hurt, not letting her tears fall, not even when one man attacked her with a knife, nearly slicing her nose completely off her face. Thirium rolled down her skin and dripped off her chin, but tears did not, would not.

And she _hated_.

When the fighting started, she thought it was normal at first. The androids fought all the time. But then Lexxie's voice filled her head-- _They're on our side! They're with Markus! We're free!_ \--and she realized the androids weren't fighting each other. They were fighting the humans.

Fighting the _humans._

She didn't scream. She snarled like the tom cats when they fought. She swung her arms out, fingers curled into claws, teeth bared. She scratched and bit and hit, but she was small and everyone else was big. Three new people backed her into a corner, shaking something shiny at her. One leaned in close.

**DESIGNATE MOTHER Y/N?**

She clawed through the prompt, nails raking across the human's face. The human shouted and backed away, but they still had her cornered. She snarled again, pressing into the corner, trying to find a way out.

The humans parted for a bigger one, dressed head to toe in dark armor, to step forward. This new one crouched down, making himself small like her. He took his helmet off. His hair was tousled and sweat shone on his skin. His eyes were tired and he had scratchy stubble on his chin. But the thing that caught her eye was the old gash across his nose, like someone had tried to cut it off.

Everything else, she had seen before. The sweat, the beard, the fatigue...all of that was old.

The scar was new.

She reached out to touch it, felt how the skin felt warped and wrong and stretched. He didn't move, didn't scold her, didn't reach for her. She touched her own nose, feeling along the edges of the gash where her plastic had been melted to stop the thirium leak, warped and wrong and stretched.

“That's right,” the man said. “We match.”

He smiled, and it was sad. It was like Lucy's smile, or Clark's, or Lexxie's.

“My name is Gavin. What's your name?”

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

No human had ever told her his name before. She was supposed to call them all ‘Daddy.’ She didn't call them anything. Daddy was for someone who never hurt her. Daddy was special.

No human had ever asked for her name either. She didn't have one. No designation had ever been registered for as far back as she could remember. She only had her best guess.

She did not like her best guess. She did not like any of her guesses. She wanted a parent to tell her what her name was. She wanted this human to tell her what her name _wasn't_.

“ _...slut…_ ”

The human women hissed, but Gavin didn't move. At all. His smile seemed fake now. It hasn't seemed fake before.

“We'll work on names later,” Gavin told her.

He didn't like the name. Her name. Her name that she didn't like, he didn't like.

She maybe didn't hate him as much as she hated the others.

“I'm with the police, kiddo. We all are, if we're wearing this.” He patted the dark armour over his chest. She looked around and realized that all of the women had that same armor. “That makes us the good guys. We're here to help you, okay?”

She rubbed her nose and watched him, feeling over the ridges of her damage, remembering the ridges in his. They matched. He was a human, but he was damaged like she was.

Gavin reached out without looking away, and one of the women gave him one of the shiny things. He showed it to her. “Can I give you this blanket, kiddo?”

He kept calling her that. Kiddo. It wasn't a name-- _we'll work on names later_ \--but she liked it. Kiddo. She was kiddo. She nodded once.

Gavin moved slowly, carefully. He let her watch his hands as he unfolded the shiny blanket. He reached around her, not grabbing her, not touching her with his hands at all. The shiny material settled over her shoulders. He sat back.

She reached up and folded the blanket around her body. It wasn't warm yet, but it covered her. All of the humans relaxed. She relaxed too. She didn't mean to, but she did. She tucked her face in the shiny material, watching Gavin as he was called away, watching him put his helmet back on, memorizing the armor he wore.

One of the women reached for her. Her hand pressed the shiny against her skin, and she snarled, jerking away. They were talking, trying to get her to come with them. Gavin said they would help her, but she hated them. She hated all of them, but she hated Gavin the least.

He called her kiddo.

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

All she had experienced was this warehouse, but she knew there was an outside. The other androids talked about it sometimes. _Jericho_. A place that didn't hurt. It was other things too, like freedom and hope and independence, but she didn't care about any of that. She just wanted the not-hurt.

To get to Jericho, she needed to get out of the warehouse. If she left with the women, what would happen to her? Would she be hurt? Would she have a new group of humans trying to hurt her?

Gavin didn't like her assumed name. He gave her a blanket that was shiny. He didn't touch her.

Conclusion: Gavin was safe. Relatively.

She needed to leave _with Gavin_. She needed to convince Gavin to let her stay near him. She needed to be near Gavin.

She nodded to the women that she would follow them, but as soon as they gave her space, she ran. She ran into the crowd of androids and humans, hugging her shiny tight around her body. She was small. The women weren't. She got away.

Gavin went upstairs, so she went upstairs. She snuck one hand out of the shiny to clutch at the railing. One step. Two steps. Three…

Three…

Memories were replaying, men yanking her by the arm, telling her she was such a sweetheart, an angel, a baby girl. Men yanking her upstairs. Upstairs was pain. Fear. No crying.

Gavin, who called her kiddo. Who didn't touch her. Who could get her out of the warehouse and on her way to Jericho. Maybe.

Three steps. Four steps. She clutched the railing again, shivering through another round of memories. Five steps. Six steps. Upstairs was scary. Upstairs was Gavin. Seven steps. Eight steps. Other humans ( _police_ , they had the dark vests) were bringing other androids downstairs. There were shiny blankets all over. No one paid her any attention as she dragged herself to the top, stopping to shake and whine every few steps.

Gavin was at the end of the hall. She recognized his armor and hurried toward him. Her shiny rustled, and he twisted around with his gun pointing at her. He breathed. She breathed. He lowered the gun.

“Kid, you're supposed to be downstairs with the others.”

Kid. Like kiddo, but shorter. A nickname. A sign of endearment? He was already liking her. She needed him to like her more. She shook her head and rubbed her nose.

“You want to stay with me,” Gavin sighed. She nodded.

The other police with Gavin didn't want her to stay. She hated them. Gavin didn't seem to like them either. She didn't hate Gavin as much.

“If I send you downstairs, kid, are you going to come right back?”

Kid again. It made her insides feel funny and warm.

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

She wasn't answering the prompt. She _burned_ for a parent, but registering a parent would tie her to him. When she left to find Jericho, if she was caught, she'd be dragged back to him.

Her programming whispered that was good. She didn't know if she trusted it. She pushed the pop-up aside again and nodded. She would follow him until he took her out of this place.  
  
Gavin sighed again. “It might not be safe up here. Go on that corner and wait until I say ‘clear,’ okay? And don't touch anything!”

She hated orders. She didn't hate Gavin as much. She needed Gavin to like her. She went into the corner and drew her shiny around her head, peeking out and watching him watch her. She knew what it meant when a man's eyes lingered like that. He was liking her.

Gavin pushed into the last room where the broken androids went. He shouted angrily. She heard him say _clear_ and darted away from the corner to be next to him again.

But Gavin wasn't being nice. Gavin was pointing a gun. He was pointing a gun at the doctor man who fixed the broken androids and made them cry.

The men who hurt her had guns sometimes. The doctor man had not made her cry, but there was another android on the table in front of him who probably was crying on the inside. She didn't recognize the new android, but Gavin did. Gavin was protecting him. Gavin was angry for him in a way he hasn't been downstairs.

Conclusion: Gavin had come for _this_ android.

Gavin was dragging the doctor man out. “Kid, move!” She went forward, went to the android with the red LED. He wasn't moving. He had no clothes. She had the shiny. Gavin didn't have a shiny. Gavin liked this android and she wanted Gavin to like her.

She put her shiny on the unresponsive android. It slid off. She tried again. His legs were being held up. The shiny wouldn't stay.

“No, sweetheart, that blanket is for you.”

 _Sweetheart._ She squeezed her eyes shut when Gavin said one of her names that she hated and shook her head. The shiny slid away again. She forced herself to pick it up. She knew it. She _knew_ she still hated Gavin. He was just like all the other humans. He was going to hurt her.

As long as he got her out...maybe it would be okay. Maybe he'd be the last one to hurt her. At Jericho, there would be no more hurt.

“Here.” Gavin came up to her with the doctor man's coat. It was huge and green and it smelled funny. “Wrap up in this, and I'll help you give him the blanket, okay?”

She still hated him. She _did_.

But maybe not as much.

She wanted to cry. He was being so nice. He called her kiddo.

He called her sweetheart.

She didn't _know_.

She took the coat he was offering and dragged it over her arms. It was heavy. It was warm. She held it closed in the front with one hand and picked up the blanket again.

Gavin was moving between the android's legs, talking gently to him, untying him. She still needed Gavin to like her. She threw the shiny blanket over the other android and huddled in her heavy coat, watching Gavin wrap him up and talk to him. Connor. He called this android Connor. This android had a name, a real name.

She just had kiddo. Kid. _Sweetheart_.  
  
“I'm gonna pick him up.” Gavin was talking to her again. He pointed next to him. “Can you stick right next to me? I'll get you both out of here.”

Out of here.

He was liking her. It was working. He called her sweetheart but he was going to get her out of the warehouse, and then she could find Jericho.

She nodded and shuffled closer. One hand still held her coat closed, but she reached up and hooked her fingers through a loop on his vest, then looked up at his head with the helmet still in place. Big eyes. Sad mouth. Hunched shoulders. Gavin seemed to be nice to all the helpless androids. She wanted to keep him thinking he should be nice to her too.

Gavin was talking into his ear piece and testing Connor's weight. She held his vest and her coat, watching as he pulled one of Connor's arms free of the blanket and then picked him up.  
  
“Ready to make history, kid?”

Kid again? It still made her feel warm, just as sweetheart made her feel cold. She was so confused with herself. She didn't _understand_.

She nodded.

Gavin walked fast. After just a few steps, she was hobbling, her fractured plastic and torn silicone sending errors and flashes of pain through her system. He glanced at her and slowed down, taking smaller steps. There were humans everywhere now. She eased herself closer to him. He was still safe. Relatively.

The door was ahead of her.

The door was above her.

The door was behind her.

_She was out._

It was dark _and_ bright out here. Pretty red and blue lights flashed against the walls. White lights flashed in her face. There were people and androids everywhere.

Her eyes were leaking.

The tears she had held in for so long were running down her cheeks. She couldn't wipe them away and still hold Gavin and the coat. She had to let them fall. She was out, she was _out_ , and she'd never go back in, never, never, _never_! She was one step closer to Jericho, where it wouldn't hurt, it would never hurt again.

“We're almost there,” Gavin said. She looked up at him. Was he…taking her to Jericho?

Another android ran up to them, calling Connor's name. Gavin let him take Connor, and they both crouched low.

A beautiful woman came up beside her. She knew this was another android. The android held out her hand.  
  
“Come with me, little one, and I'll help you get cleaned up.”

**DESIGNATE MOTHER Y/N?**

**N**

She shook her head and worked her way around Gavin's body without letting go of him. He was the one she was trusting right now. The _only_ one.  
  
“You don't want to go with her, kiddo?” Gavin asked. “She's a nice lady.”

 _Kiddo_. She still had tears dripping down her face. She shook her head and reached for Gavin again, her fingers closing across the scar on his nose. Still there. Still warped and wrong and just like hers.  
  
“Is she too pretty?” Gavin's voice was nasal and distorted, and she gasped, realizing she might be hurting _him_. That was no way to get him to like her. She hid her face against his arm, hoping that butting up against him was cute enough to overpower the pinch.

Belatedly, she realized Gavin had asked her a question. Was the android too pretty? No, she just didn't trust her. Didn't want to trust her. Gavin called her sweetheart once, but he hadn't hurt her yet. That was all the trust she could spare right now

The android left to find someone else, and Gavin was distracted by the android checking over Connor. He let her cling to his arm as the other android laughed and assured him everything was going to be okay. Gavin tugged off his helmet and pushed his fingers through his hair, spiking it even messier. “Hear that, kiddo? Connor's gonna pull through!”

He was so happy. He wanted her to be happy. She lifted her head and tried to remember what happy looked like. Her mouth needed to pull up?

Gavin looked at her with sad eyes and put his helmet on her head. It was way too big, falling over her eyes and blocking her vision. When she pushed it up quickly, he was smiling. Not a mean smile. A nice smile.

 _That_ was what happy looked like.

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

She smiled back, suddenly shy. There was a fluttering in her chest that was unfamiliar.  
  
“Hello, little one,” the other android said, interrupting them. He had a nice voice and a sad smile. “My name is Markus. What's your name?”  
  
“We're working on that still,” Gavin said quickly, before she could answer with ‘kiddo.’ “What they called her in there wasn't a name.”

She looked at Gavin. Her thirium pump was going crazy. Her eyes were wet again. She ducked her head quickly, letting the helmet cover her face before her eyes started leaking fresh tears. She clutched at Gavin's sleeve, twisting her feet together. She did not want to let go. Even if he ended up hurting her, she did not want to let go.

Markus’ voice was muffled by the helmet, but she still understood him. “You like this man?”

She liked Gavin. She _liked_ him. She hated him but she liked him, and she didn't _know._ He was supposed to like her. It wasn't supposed to go both ways.

She nudged her head against Gavin's arm, pushing the helmet up enough to peer out at Markus and gave a tiny, hopeless nod. Markus held her gaze with his sad smile, and she knew he understood. _They're with Markus!_ Lexxie had shouted in all of their heads. Markus was Jericho. He knew how important it was to not-hurt.  
  
“He's a detective. Do you know what that means?”

It meant he was police, but she didn't know if there was more to it than that. She shook her head, and Markus kept smiling like he could see her battered soul and loved her anyway.

“It means he catches bad guys and mean people, and he punishes them for being bad. There are a lot of bad people out there. People who like to hurt other people. But Detective Reed helps people. Like he helped you and Connor here.”  
  
“Geez, you don't have to hype it up so much.” Gavin's face was red, and she realized he was embarrassed.  
  
Markus held out his hand to her, his skin peeling back. “I am an android, like you. And I've been hurt like you too.” He touched his hand to his blue eye. “If you would like to stay with me, you can.”  
  
“Markus is the leader of all the androids,” Gavin said. “He's the android king. If you go with him, you could be the android princess.”  
  
“Now who's overhyping things?” Markus murmured. He glanced at Gavin, but he looked back to her.

She looked between the android king and the human detective. She touched Markus by his broken eye, then Gavin's scarred nose, then her own. _Is he safe?_ she wanted to ask, _beg_ Markus. He met her gaze, calm and gentle. She could imagine his answer.

Markus was the king of not-hurt androids. If Gavin was dangerous, he would not let Gavin take her. She shook her head, rejecting Markus' offer, and clasped her arms tighter around Gavin's arm, pressing her chest against his muscle and bracing for the rejection.  
  
Gavin said nothing, and Markus chuckled. “Would you mind giving her a place to stay tonight, Gavin? She seems to like you best.”  
  
“Me?” Gavin looked between her and Markus, struggling with his words. “You want her to stay with me? Are you…” He looked at her again. She looked back. Sad eyes. Sad mouth. _Please like me.._. “...sure? I don't have any blue blood or clothes that'll fit her…”

That wasn't a no. That was practically a yes. She held her breath unnecessarily, watching Gavin talk to Markus.  
  
“I'll arrange to have some supplies delivered tonight. Would Hank have your address?”  
  
“Uh...yeah, actually.” Gavin ran a hand through his hair again and smiled at her. “You okay with that, kiddo? Staying with me tonight?”  
  
She nodded quickly, before he could change his mind, squeezing at his arm and forcing her fingers to relax. _You want me! You want me, you want me, you want me!_

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

Gavin continued to want her as the night dragged on. He offered her his hand, and he squeezed her smaller fingers when she took it. He led her to a police van and sat in the back with her and seven other androids from the warehouse. He helped her out of the van and into a big, brightly lit building, and then into a little room with no windows. He stopped holding her hand then. Another android in a police uniform approached, smiling too big and talking too loud. She kept watching Gavin as the other android took pictures of her, with and without her coat and her skin.

Off to the side of the room, Gavin was taking off all his dark armor and dropping it in a pile. He looked over at her when he was done, watching the other android taking swabs of genetic material from her various orifices.

She was small and broken, all her cracked plating with its oozing thirium on display. Her long hair, so pretty and loved by all the men she knew before, was completely gone with her skin. Her damaged nose was a gouged disaster right in the middle of her face.

Gavin was looking her over. He did not look happy. His hands were tight fists. She did not want to cry. She covered her nose with a hand, her other arm swaying over her body as she tried to find the worst-damaged place to hide from his angry eyes.

He crossed the room in three steps and crouched down by her side. His big hands, warmer now without his gloves, closed around her hand on her nose and drew out away. “Hey,” he said. His eyes were angry, but his voice wasn't. He touched her hand to his nose. “We match, remember? It's okay. You're okay.”

She was okay. Gavin was there. He called her kiddo, and his nose was broken like her nose. They matched. Even when the other android batted Gavin away, they matched. He was protecting her. When the other android's hands went places she didn't like, or moved her around, she touched her nose and looked to Gavin. He took her hand every single time, squeezing it and smiling at her.

Gavin did not leave her side. He wanted her.

When the other android finished, she reactivated her skin. Her hair was reset to its factory brilliance, with no snarls or ick. It tumbled down her back, and Gavin looked surprised.

“Can all androids do that?” he asked. “Just...boom, get clean by turning their skin off and back on again?”

She held out her arms, watching as her unblemished synthetic skin slowly turned blue, fresh thirium leaking through her cracks and giving her mottled bruises. Her hair was still perfect, but she was not.

“...ah.” Gavin shook his head, accepting a shirt from the other android and crouching down to offer it to her. “Well...how about we just get you dressed and get you home for the night?”

Dressed. _Home._ As Gavin asked the other android some questions about her damage, she pulled on the shirt using movements she'd never done but somehow already knew, getting her arms in the sleeves and pulling all of her hair out of the collar. The shirt was way too long, hanging low around her neck and falling past her skinny knees, but it covered almost her whole body and she didn't have to hold it on. She petted the shirt, running her hands down the front like she did with her doll. _Her_ shirt. Nice shirt.

“Well...if you're ready?”

She looked up at Gavin. He was holding out his hand to her. She smoothed down her shirt one more time, then slid her fingers against his. He looked tired, but he squeezed her hand in the way that made her feel warm, and he led her toward the door. Toward the door, then another door, and an elevator. Through more doors. Gavin covered a yawn and glanced at her. She glanced up at him, and he smiled. She smiled too. He still liked her.

He didn't try to pick her up when they got to his car. He opened the door for her and let her climb in herself, then he told her how to buckle the seatbelt. She liked the click it made, so she pushed the red button. It clicked again and came loose. She pushed it back into place. Click. Red button. Click.

“You have to stay buckled up when we're in the car.” Gavin had gone around and climbed in behind the wheel. He pulled his seatbelt across his chest, clicking it into place. She clicked hers into place too. They matched again.

The car rumbled to life, louder and deeper than the van they had been in before. She looked around nervously as it started to move. Through the windows, she could see the city, bright lights against the dark night. Red lights, white lights, yellow lights, signs of more colors than she could ever remember seeing. She touched the glass with one hand, then both, pressing her face up against the smooth barrier keeping her away from the magic sights that danced past. Was this what Jericho would be like? Her own shirt, a seatbelt that clicked, and a city aglow in wonder?

The city vanished behind a wall of concrete as Gavin drove them beneath a building. Here, the lights were perfectly regular, with regular concrete pillars and yellow paint on the ground. Cars of all shapes and colors were there too. She marveled at them all, even as Gavin pulled into an empty space big enough for his car. He turned it off and clicked his seatbelt loose, then came around the car and opened the door. She clicked her seatbelt loose one more time, patting the red button.

“Want me to carry you?” he asked her, looking at her feet. She wiggled her toes. Sometimes, the men really liked to touch her feet. She shook her head, climbing out of the car. She trusted Gavin. She liked him, maybe. But she did not want to be trapped in his hold, unable to wriggle away.

Just in case.

Gavin held out his hand and she took it again. He walked slowly to let her keep up easily with him, though he did drag her around the things thrown on the floor, keeping her feet away.

“Kinda gross out here, huh?”

 _Gross?_ She looked up at Gavin, then looked around at the riot of colors and lights. This wasn't gross at all! She shook her head and pointed to the prettiest thing she could see, a car that was entirely purple all over, bright and almost glowing beneath the fluorescent lights. Could Gavin not see how beautiful this was?

Maybe only androids could see it. Gavin's hand tightened around hers. His tension was rising as he looked down at her, tugging her into an elevator.

The metal door slid closed, and Gavin pushed a button. They were alone together in a small room. She looked up at him and touched her nose. His nose was too far away to touch. They still matched, though. Even if she couldn't touch it, she could still see his nose.

She dropped her gaze to her bare feet and wiggled her toes again. Toes he had stared at. He couldn't see how pretty the cars were, but he had stared at her feet and her hair. They were alone now. Outside of the warehouse, but going up.

Upstairs was pain. Fear. No crying.

“Hey. You okay, kiddo?”

 _Gavin._ She hunched her shoulders against the memories and nodded. Gavin was taking her upstairs. No pain, he didn't hurt her.

That didn't mean he wouldn't touch her. Make her dirty. Inside.

Maybe she should have gone with Markus. Why did she trust the human over the android?

Gavin took her down a hall and unlocked a door with his hand. He pushed inside first, then brought her in. “So, uh, welcome to my place? It's...uh...forgive the mess, wasn't really expecting company…”

She followed Gavin as he went around the house, picking up things like what she used to play with in the warehouse. She twisted her fingers in her shirt, staring at how shiny and clean everything was. There was furniture that looked soft, and blankets that weren't shiny, and her feet didn't feel crumbs and pebbles beneath her sensitive soles.  
  
“I'll, uh, make you a bed...do you want a bath?”

A bath? She blinked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him, searching her database. A bath was…

_Clean, warm water, making your body clean_

She gasped. Could this be the solution? If Gavin made her dirty inside, and then she had a _bath_ , she could be clean? She nodded quickly. Yes. If he was going to touch her, she wanted a bath.  
  
“Okay, bathroom's this way, kiddo.”

The bathroom wasn't soft. The walls were hard, and the floor was hard, and even the furniture was hard. There were soft blue towels, though, and a blue curtain Gavin pulled back. He turned a knob and water roared out of a faucet, louder and harder than she had ever experienced before. She reacted automatically, flinching away and making a squeal of distress, but Gavin simply chuckled

“It's not going to hurt you. It's just water. C’mere, stick your hand in and let me know if it's too hot.”

She inched closer to the thunderous waterfall, watching Gavin stick his hand in the water and wiggle his fingers. Humans were far more fragile than androids. If this wasn't hurting him, it shouldn't hurt her.

She reached forward and stuck her fingers in the water. The force out the stream pushed at her fingers, flowing over them and tickling her sensors. It was warm, like a cat's tongue licking between them. She giggled.

The sound had bubbled up from somewhere inside her, as automatic as her flinch and cry or the way her eyes had leaked tears. It was a sound just like a smile, and it didn't scare her. Gavin was swallowing next to her, his fingers not wiggling anymore.

“Too hot?”

His voice was a little croaky, but she still understood his words. She shook her head. She liked warm things.

“Too cold?”

Could...Could it _be_ warmer? She did like warm things...but she didn't want to cause him trouble. She shook her head. He pulled his hand out of the water and moved the knob. Almost immediately, it grew even warmer, like the belly of a cat trying to sleep and glaring at her when she stuck her fingers beneath its fur.

Gavin pushed the drain closed. “Okay. You stay here and keep an eye on this. When the water gets up to here,” he drew a line against the edge of the tub, “turn the water off by pushing the knob in. Can you do that?”

A task. Clear and distinct instructions. She could do this and show Gavin she was useful. She put her fingers where he indicated and gave a firm nod.  
  
“Okay, kiddo. I'm going to get you a towel and a fresh...uh...shirt.”

Gavin left the room, but she didn't relax. She watched the water pour into the bathtub, the level rising beneath her eyes. She was not going to let Gavin down.

_Wait for the water level to reach the indicated height._

_Push the knob in._

She kept repeating the two steps of the assigned task, even as Gavin came back into the room. The water level was almost at the height indicated. She held one hand over the knob waiting, waiting, waiting... _now_! She took a deep breath and slammed her hand into the knob. The water shut off, the level exactly perfect.

_Task complete._

Beaming with pride, she turned to look up at Gavin and pointed to the tub. He was grinning, and he chuckled. “Good job! Now it's time for you to get in. Are you going to need help?”  
  
_Would_ she need help? She had never had a bath before. She wasn't really sure what to do. Something with the water? She shrugged.  
  
“That's okay. Is this your first bath?” Gavin asked. She nodded. “Okay. First step is to take off your clothes.”

Ah. There it was. She blinked, then nodded again, looking down at her feet. He called her kiddo and he didn't hit her. He held her hand and made her feel warm inside. She could do this for him. She gripped the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head.  
  
“Are…” She could feel the tears again and pushed them away. No. _No._ No crying during sex. “Is this the part where you fuck me?” She looked up at Gavin, desperately hoping for a miracle.

“Jesus Christ, kid.” Gavin looked like she had just kicked him in the place where she was never, _never_ allowed to kick someone. He dropped to his knees with a thud and reached over, his hands warm and soft on her bare shoulders. “No. Never. There is never a part where anyone fucks you ever again. Nobody will ever touch you like that again. I promise. It's over now. No more hurt. You're gonna get clean and get healthy and everything will get better. I promise. Okay?” He pushed some of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. He wasn't the first man to do that to her, but the way he was looking at her, like _he_ was the one about to cry, that was new. “I'm one of the good guys, kid. I'm going to keep you safe as long as you let me.”  
  
She looked into his sad eyes and she wanted to believe him. To trust him. “Promise?” she whispered.  
  
“I promise,” Gavin said. “As long as I am alive, I will protect you.”

He wasn't lying. She could see it in his face. He wasn't lying to her, and she wanted to cry, and she wanted to hug him, and she didn't want to do anything.

She touched his nose. “We match.”  
  
“We match,” he agreed. He touched one finger to her scar as well. “Us matched people have to stick together.”

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

No. Maybe. Not yet. She looked at him solemnly and gave a nod. Maybe.  
  
“How does a bath work?”

Gavin walked her through taking a bath, which was the single most blissful feeling she had ever experienced ever. The warm water had wrapped around her and fluttered over her arms when she moved them. When he told her it was over, she couldn't help but pout until he wrapped a fluffy towel around her and rubbed all the water off. He even rubbed it out of her hair, after giving her the most beautiful purple shirt she had ever seen. It had writing on it that declared her a crazy cat lady.

She loved it.  
  
“Can you eat?” Gavin asked as they left the bathroom.

She nodded. “Little bits at a time.” Talking to him was easier now. She reached up for his hand, squeezing his fingers and wondering if she could make him feel warm inside too.  
  
“I'll get you some food, then make you up a bed, okay?”  
  
She nodded, and she climbed into the seat he pulled out for her. She didn't need food. She needed thirium, but he had already told Markus he didn't have any. If he wanted to give her food, she would eat it.

She wasn't sure what food would be like. She had eaten things before, but she knew it wasn't food. It wasn't good, everything she had eaten or licked. She knew she was designed to hold a small amount of digestible solids in a little container in her belly that she could remove and clean, but she rarely had much use for it before now.

Gavin set a bowl in front of her, with two round scoops of something cold and cream-colored, with dark brown and light brown spots. “Ice cream is the only food worth eating at...three fifty four in the morning,” he informed her after checking the clock on the microwave.  
  
She gave a nod and peered into the bowl. “Is this all for me?”  
  
“Yup, all of it. I got my own.” Gavin gestured at the second bowl he had prepared before putting the food back in the freezer.  
  
She picked up the spoon and maneuvered a bite to her mouth. It was _cold_.

It was _sweet_!

She hadn't known cold things could be good like warm things. She hadn't known _anything_ that went in her mouth could be good. _But this was amazing!_ All of her mouth sensors were going crazy, lighting up and sending signals to her processor. She pressed her tongue against the spoon, searching out every last molecule of the ice cream. There were no words to explain this to Gavin, so she just squealed around the spoon

Gavin laughed. “There's more in the bowl.”  
  
She wiggled in the chair, pulling the spoon out of her mouth and licking every trace of ice cream off it before digging in for another tiny spoonful. Gavin left her to savor the food. She pushed spoonfuls against the roof of her mouth, feeling it melt around her tongue and leave behind the dark chunks--crunchy--and the light chunks--softer. She closed her eyes and murmured happily to herself. This _had_ to be Jericho. Nothing could be better than this.

Gavin returned to the kitchen, and she wiggled at him again, licking her spoon. “It's good!”

“Ice cream is the best,” Gavin corrected.  
  
“It's the best!” she echoed.  
  
Gavin took the other bowl of ice cream. “Want to move into the other room, kid? We can turn on the TV and watch something while we finish this.”  
  
She nodded enthusiastically around her spoon, wiggling out of the chair while carefully cradling her bowl of ice cream. She remembered where the living room was and led Gavin this time, but she stopped short at the sight of the couch. It was no longer empty, but there was a pillow and blankets to make it look like a bed.

 _And there was a kitty._ Curled up on the pillow in a mountain of fluff, a huge kitty with gold eyes lifted its head to look at them, yawn, and then tuck back into its tail.

Bath. Purple shirt. Ice cream. _Kitty._ Was this what a dream was?  
  
“Where the fuck…?” Gavin didn't sound as excited about the kitty as she felt. The kitty didn't surprise him, clearly. “Off. Tugger. Off the pillow.”  
  
The kitty twitched its ear and completely ignored Gavin, just like the cats at the warehouse ignored her. Gavin sighed, sitting on the far end of the bed-couch and patting the cushion beside him. “Here, kid, we'll kick him off later.”  
  
Gavin wanted her to sit beside him, but how close? Could she sit in his lap?

She didn't want to sit in his lap. But she did. But she didn't. But maybe…

She sat beside him, setting the bowl in her lap and taking the spoon out of her mouth. “That's your kitty?”  
  
“Yeah, that's the Rum Tum Tugger. He's my fluffy asshole.”  
  
“So fluffy!” She looked over at Tugger, as if distracted by him, and wiggled her hips to the side, pressing herself against Gavin's hip. “I like kitties.” She kept squirming and wiggling, pressing hard against his arm. He lifted his arm up, and she immediately pressed against his side, feeling his ribs expanding beneath her cheek. She gave a little sigh in response, spooning another tiny piece of ice cream into her mouth.

Gavin didn't put his arm back down. Had she gone too far? Pushed too hard? She looked up at him, sneaking a glance. His eyes met hers, and then his arm folded around her body.

She felt _safe_. She had never felt safe before, but she felt safe now. Gavin was talking, but she just nodded along with his questions as he picked something for them to watch.

 _Safe_. Jericho wasn't a bowl of ice cream or a purple shirt. It wasn't a bath of warm water or a kitty on a pillow. It was _this_ , an arm around her to hold her close, a quiet voice singing along to the music on the tv, a calm heartbeat against her ear. It was a sweet taste on her tongue and a movie about a queen who was scared of everyone seeing what she tried to hide for so long.

“Conceal, don't feel,” Elsa said on the tv, and she repeated the words. Gavin squeezed her against him, and she felt warm and sad and happy, with tears blooming in her eyes.

And then Elsa began to sing.

She leaned forward, ice cream forgotten, clasping her hands together. Every word resonated inside her, and she repeated them all, singing a beat behind Elsa just like Gavin sang all the other songs. Her tears were rolling down her face now. She was _safe_ , and _free_ , and just like Elsa, that perfect little girl who didn't cry and didn't talk and didn't want to go upstairs was gone. She was new now, remade in her own image, something better than the doll at the warehouse.

She sat back, letting the song sink into her memory, then wiggled down to put her head on Gavin's leg. His fingers ended up in her hair, petting gently. It felt so nice.

Something stepped on her leg, then her hip, then her side, four points of pressure. Whiskers dipped into her ear, then a rough little tongue. She giggled as the kitty licked her, warmth swelling inside her again. Gavin's kitty liked her too!

By the end of the movie, Tugger had curled up in front of her, pressed against her chest, his tail draped possessively over her thigh. She was exhausted in every sense of the word, her processor aching and overwhelmed with the events of the day.

“Hey, kiddo,” Gavin murmured, still rubbing his fingers over her head. “Your eyes are looking pretty heavy. I think it's time we get some sleep.”  
  
“I liked that movie,” she mumbled, rubbing a fist against her eye. “Elsa's the best, just like ice cream.” Just like Gavin.  
  
“Yeah, she's pretty badass.” Gavin poked at Tugger until he hopped off the couch with an annoyed grumble, freeing them up.  
  
“I wanna be like her.”  
  
Gavin grabbed her under her arms and hauled her over on the couch, setting her head on the pillow and dragging the blanket over her. He tucked it in around her body and smiled at her. “Yeah?”  
  
“Mmhmm…”  
  
“You know what?” Gavin pushed her messy hair out of her face, kneeling beside the couch so his head was at the same level as hers. “I happen to know for a fact that Elsa really likes to share her name.”  
  
“She does?”  
  
“Yup.” Gavin smiled faintly. “How'd you like to have that be your name?”

 _Her name?_ Not slut, not sweetheart, not even kiddo...but _Elsa_? A real name like real people had?

“Can I really?” She pushed herself up, hardly daring to breathe as she looked at Gavin.  
  
Gavin tapped two fingers against each of her shoulders. “By the power vested in me by the Detroit Police Department, I dub thee Elsa Reed.”

_Elsa Reed._

_REED._

That was _his_ name. Gavin Reed. Detective Reed. Reed was _his_ name, his family name, and he just said it was _her_ name.

He just said she was the same family as him.

**ACCEPT DESIGNATION ELSA REED Y/N?**

**Y**  
  
“I...have a name?” Elsa brought her hands up, staring at her fingers, then touching her face. Elsa Reed's fingers. Elsa Reed's face. “I have a name?”  
  
“You have a name,” Gavin confirmed.  
  
Elsa flung her arms around Gavin's neck, burrowing against him with a sudden sob. “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

There was an entire flood of tears running down Elsa's face, soaking into Gavin's shirt. _Elsa Reed._ She had a _name_! She _belonged_! She belonged to _him_!

**DESIGNATE FATHER Y/N?**

**Y**

**Author's Note:**

> The Detroit: New Era server is an amazing place for Detroit: Become Human writers and artists! Some of the best authors in the fandom are settling in and sharing tidbits and teasers for their work! If you have any interest in the fandom (and let's be honest, you wouldn't have read this far if you didn't!), come join us at https://discord.gg/DUyFvVM
> 
> Please don't be shy: this is the first Discord server for many of us! We're happy to help people settle in!


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